The Fat of the Land

The Fat of the Land
Studio album by The Prodigy
Released	30 June 1997
Recorded	1995–97
Studio	Earthbound Central
Genre	Big beat[1]
Length	56:24
Language	English
Label	XL Maverick (US)
Producer	Liam Howlett
The Prodigy chronology
Music for the Jilted Generation (1994) The Fat of the Land (1997) The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One (1999)
Singles from The Fat of the Land
"Firestarter" Released: 18 March 1996 "Breathe" Released: 11 November 1996 "Smack My Bitch Up" Released: 24 November 1997

The Fat of the Land is the third studio album by English electronic music group The Prodigy. The album was released by XL Recordings on 30 June 1997 and on 1 July 1997 in the United States by Maverick Records. The album title comes from the old English phrase 'living off the fat of the land', which means living well or being wealthy.^[2] The band name was shortened to simply "Prodigy" for the release and its singles. While Liam Howlett is generally responsible for the compositions and Maxim Reality is featured on two tracks, this is the first record to include contributions by Keith Flint, who provides vocals on four of the songs.

The album has received critical acclaim and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide as of 2012.^[3][4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	B[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
NME	8/10[8]
Pitchfork Media	7.9/10[9]
Q	[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[12]
Spin	7/10[13]
Sputnikmusic	5/5[14]

The Fat of the Land has received critical acclaim. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.^[15] The album has since gone double platinum, selling over 2 million copies in the US.^[16] In 1999, the album entered the Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling UK album and was also nominated Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.^[17]

It has been featured in a number of music publication lists:

• In 1998, Q magazine readers voted The Fat of the Land the ninth greatest album of all time.
• In 2000 Q placed it at number 47 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. It has also been ranked number 43 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime" list,^[18] and was included in their "90 Best Albums of the 1990s"^[19] and "50 Best Albums of 1997" lists.^[20]
• Rolling Stone included in their "Essential Recordings of the 90s" list.^[21]
• Spin ranked it number 20 on their list of the "Top 20 Albums of the Year [1997]" list.^[22]
• Melody Maker ranked it number 13 on their list of "Albums of the Year" for 1997^[23] and number 29 in their 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.^[24]
• NME ranked it number 17 in their 1997 Critics' Poll.^[25]

The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[26] The album was also nominated for the 1997 Mercury Music Prize.^[27]

In 2004, KISS co-founder Gene Simmons covered "Firestarter" on his second solo album, Asshole. "Firestarter" was also covered by Sepultura on their album Kairos, and by Jimmy Eat World on their Firestarter (EP).

The album also caused some controversy. The National Organization for Women objected to the seeming misogyny of "Smack My Bitch Up", though the band maintains that its true interpretation is "doing anything intensely".^[28]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Smack My Bitch Up"	Liam Howlett Cedric Miller Trevor Randolph Maurice Smith Keith Thornton	5:42
2.	"Breathe"	Howlett Keith Flint Keith Palmer	5:35
3.	"Diesel Power" (featuring Kool Keith)	Howlett Thornton	4:17
4.	"Funky Shit"	Howlett Michael Diamond Adam Horovitz Adam Yauch	5:16
5.	"Serial Thrilla"	Howlett Flint Leonard Arran Deborah Dyer	5:11
6.	"Mindfields"	Howlett	5:40
7.	"Narayan" (featuring Crispian Mills)	Howlett Crispian Mills	9:05
8.	"Firestarter"	Howlett Flint Kim Deal Anne Dudley Trevor Horn Gary Langan Jonathan Jeczalik Paul Morley	4:40
9.	"Climbatize"	Howlett Timothy Taylor	6:38
10.	"Fuel My Fire" (featuring Saffron)	Donita Sparks Peter Jones Ross Knight Bill Walsh	4:19

Japan bonus tracks[29]
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Molotov Bitch"	4:56
12.	"No Man Army"	4:10

2012 Reissue Bonus EP: The Added Fat EP
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Smack My Bitch Up" (Noisia Remix)	5:53
2.	"Firestarter" (Alvin Risk Remix)	3:18
3.	"Breathe" (Zeds Dead Remix)	4:36
4.	"Mindfields" (Baauer Remix)	3:51
5.	"Breathe" (The Glitch Mob Remix)	4:25
6.	"Smack My Bitch Up" (Major Lazer Remix)	5:05

Personnel

The Prodigy

• Keith Flint – vocals ("Breathe", "Serial Thrilla", "Firestarter", "Fuel My Fire")
• Liam Howlett – keyboards, synthesizers, sampling, programming, production, engineering, mixing, art direction
• Maxim Reality – vocals ("Breathe", "Mindfields")

Additional musicians

• Shahin Badar – vocals ("Smack My Bitch Up")
• Kool Keith – vocals ("Smack My Bitch Up", "Diesel Power")
• Crispian Mills – vocals ("Narayan")
• Saffron – vocals ("Fuel My Fire")
• Gizz Butt – guitar ("Fuel My Fire")
• Jim Davies – guitar ("Firestarter")
• Matt Cameron – drums
• Tom Morello – guitar ("No Man Army")

Other personnel

• Neil McLellan – engineer
• Christian Ammann – photography
• JAKe – illustrations
• Alex Jenkins – art direction, design, photography
• Pat Pope – photography
• Alex Scaglia – photography
• Lou Smith – photography
• Terry Whittaker – photography
• Konrad Wothe – photography
• Mike Champion – management

Charts and certifications

Album

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[30]	1
Canadian Albums Chart[15]	1
Finnish Charts[31]	1
Irish Albums (IRMA)	1
New Zealand Albums (RIANZ)[32]	1
Swedish Albums top 60[30]	1
UK Albums (OCC)[33]	1
US Billboard 200[15]	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[34]	2× Platinum	140,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[35]	Gold	25,000
Canada (Music Canada)[36]	3× Platinum	300,000
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[37]	Platinum	42,426[37]
France (SNEP)[38]	2× Gold	200,000
Germany (BVMI)[39]	Gold	250,000
Italy (FIMI)[40]	Gold	50,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[41]	Gold	25,000
Sweden (GLF)[42]	Platinum	80,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[43]	4× Platinum	1,392,273[44]
United States (RIAA)[45]	2× Platinum	2,000,000
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[46]	2× Platinum	2,000,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Singles

Year	Song	Chart	Peak position
1996	"Firestarter"	UK Singles Chart	1[47]
1996	"Breathe"	UK Singles Chart	1[47]
1996	"Firestarter"	Australian ARIA Singles Chart	22[48]
1996	"Breathe"	Australian ARIA Singles Chart	2[48]
1997	"Smack My Bitch Up"	UK Singles Chart	8[47]
1997	"Smack My Bitch Up"	Australian ARIA Singles Chart	41[48]
1997	"Smack My Bitch Up"	Canadian Singles Chart	12[49]
1997	"Firestarter"	US Billboard Hot 100	30[49]
1997	"Firestarter"	US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	11[49]
1997	"Firestarter"	US Modern Rock Tracks	24[49]
1997	"Breathe"	US Modern Rock Tracks	18[49]
1997	"Breathe"	Canadian Singles Chart	65[50]
1997	"Smack My Bitch Up"	US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	19[49]
1998	"Smack My Bitch Up"	US Billboard Hot 100	89[49]

Appearances in other media

• "Mindfields" is the seventh track on the soundtrack of the film The Matrix. In the movie itself, it appears in the club scene where Neo meets Trinity.
• "Smack My Bitch Up" has appeared in films Charlie's Angels, Scary Movie 2 and Closer.
• Crispian Mills, who contributed lyrically to the track "Narayan", later adapted "Narayan" and elements of "Climbatize" for his own band's 2007 album, Strangefolk as "Song of Love/Narayana".
• "Climbatize" appeared in the pilot of the TV show Harsh Realm.
• "Funky Shit" was used during the ending credits of the film Event Horizon.
• Both "Firestarter" and "Breathe" have appeared in the film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.
• An instrumental version of "Firestarter" appears in video game Wipeout 2097.
• A vocal version of the Japanese bonus track "No Man Army" called "One Man Army" and featuring musician Tom Morello is featured in the movie Spawn and its soundtrack respectively.

References

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4. "Prodigy's "The Fat Of The Land" To Get 15th Anniversary Rerelease -". bloody-disgusting.com.
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6. Browne, David (11 July 1997). "The Fat of the Land". Entertainment Weekly (387). Retrieved 12 September 2011.
7. Hilburn, Robert (29 June 1997). "Prodigy Burns Down Barriers Dividing Rock, Hip-Hop, Dance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
8. Moody, Paul (28 June 1997). "The Prodigy – The Fat Of The Land". NME. Archived from the original on 5 October 2000. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
9. Lewis, Jim (31 December 1999). "Fat of the Land". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
10. "The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land". Q (129). June 1997.
11. "The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land". Rolling Stone (766): 82. 13 May 1999.
12. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
13. Weisbard, Eric (September 1997). "Prodigy: The Fat of the Land". Spin 13 (6): 155. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
14. Deviant (30 June 1997). "Review: The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land (staff review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
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17. "Shahin Badar". shahinbadar.com. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
18. Q (October 2001): 46. Missing or empty |title= (help);
19. Q (December 1999): 92. Missing or empty |title= (help);
20. Q (January 1998): 114. Missing or empty |title= (help);
21. Rolling Stone: 82. 13 May 1999. Missing or empty |title= (help);
22. Spin (January 1998): 87. Missing or empty |title= (help);
23. Melody Maker (20 December 1997): 66–67. Missing or empty |title= (help);
24. Village Voice. 24 February 1998. Missing or empty |title= (help);
25. NME (20 December 1997): 78–79. Missing or empty |title= (help);
26. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
27. "Mercury Prize - Prodigy". mercuryprize.com. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
28. "Prodigy". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
29. only CD released from Sony Music Entertainment Japan
30. The Fat of the Land – Charting
31. Finland's Official List – ylex.yle.fi
33. July 1997 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
34. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
35. "Austrian album certifications – Prodigy – The Fat of the Land" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Prodigy in the field Interpret. Enter The Fat of the Land in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
36. "Canadian album certifications – Prodigy – The Fat of the Land". Music Canada.
37. "Prodigy" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
38. "French album certifications – Prodigy – The Fat of the Land" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
39. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Prodigy; 'The Fat of the Land')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
40. "Rock: Già disco d'oro l'album dei Prodigy" (in Italian). Adnkronos. 8 July 1997. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
41. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Prodigy; 'The Fat of the Land')". Hung Medien.
42. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
43. "British album certifications – Prodigy – The Fat of the Land". British Phonographic Industry. Enter The Fat of the Land in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
44. "Official Charts Analysis: Prodigy tops Easter Album Chart with 45,302 sales". Music Week.
45. "American album certifications – Prodigy – The Fat of the Land". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
46. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1997". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
47. "everyHit.com - UK Top 40 Chart Archive, British Singles & Album Charts". everyhit.com.
48. "The Prodigy". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
49. "The Prodigy". Allmusic. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
50. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.